This invention relates to latch assemblies, and, more particularly, to a latch assembly in which the latch operates as a lever mounted on a fulcrum.
The latch assembly has particular utility with respect to containers, for example, picnic coolers, which include a cover or lid which is hingedly secured to a chest or container body. Such latch assemblies are desirably inexpensive, easy to assemble, and easy to operate, but they must also provide secure latching. Latches for picnic coolers must satisfy still another requirement--the latch must be releaseable to permit the cover to open when a certain force is applied to the cover. This safeguards against the possibility that a child could be trapped inside the cooler.
My latch assembly includes only three major parts which can be economically produced, for example, by molding from plastic, and which can be quickly assembled. The three parts are held together by a single screw, and the latch assembly operates on a fulcrum and lever principle to provide easy yet reliable operation. A latch is pivotally mounted on a fulcrum provided by a latch base, and an operating knob, which is movably attached to the base by the screw, includes cams for pivoting the latch on the fulcrum between latched and unlatched positions. The screw holds the knob in operative relationship to the base but the flexible and resilient latch can move out of latching engagement with the chest if a sufficient opening force is applied to the cover.